- When do you leave?
- How long do you plan to be away?
1-6 Months - How much have you saved?
30000 - How old are you?
37 - Nationality
USA - Where do you live now?
California, USA - Occupation
teacher - Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
It’s my career - Have you traveled around the world before?
No - What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
7 weeks in Peru, then Prague and overland to Athens (@ 5 weeks), then to Cairo (2-3 weeks) then to Tanzania (6 weeks) for a safari and trip to Zanzibar, then London (1 week)and home. 23 weeks total. - Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
I have always been interested in traveling. I have two kids in their early teens and felt that this would be a great way to create common memories that will stay with us forever. Spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica last year and we are closer than ever.
I really need my kids to learn that life doesn’t have to be done by the book. That there are other ways of life out there. - What is your biggest fear about this trip?
That all or some of us will be terribly homesick. - Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
Some of each. Most people have been very supportive, some think that I’m crazy or that my priorities are misplaced. - How much planning and preparing have you done?
Winged it a lot - What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
Very little. From extensive backpacking experience I know that less is more and that if you need it and don’t have it, you don’t really need it.
Most indispensable item will be a good book. - How do you think your round-the-world trip will change your life? How do you think it will affect and change you as a person?
My relationship with my kids will be firmly cemented in common memories and realistic views of each other.
I will gain renewed perspective on what really matters (almost nothing that we spend most of our time and energy on).
I’ll find out if the vagabond life is really for me, or if I just have a romanticised idea of it. - If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
Life is actually in the tiny, daily moments, it’s just easier to see how much they matter when you’re outside of your usual paradigm. - Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
I’ve heard that after 3 months travel stops being an escape from your life and becomes a way of life.
I believe that you begin to own your own universality and stop limiting your humanity to a particular place. - What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
That it’s relaxing and fun. The truth is that if you are really living on the road and not just on vacation, all of your usual trappings go with you. It is even more stressful than life at home and you have to face your deepest demons. - Why do you like to travel?
All of the above reasons. I have to see myself with the numbing routine stripped away. As Thoreau said, “I [wish] to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I [can] learn what it [has] to teach.” - What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
The more money you spend the further you are likely to be from the experience that you are seeking. And plan lots of time to just sit still and watch and listen.
February 2006